Houma Indians


The Houma Indians were a minor league baseball franchise based in Houma, Louisiana in 1940 and 1946–1952. The Indians played as members of the Evangeline League. The Houma Indians won the 1946 and 1948 Evangeline League Championships.

History

The Houma Buccaneers first brought minor league baseball to Houma, Louisiana in 1940, when the Buccaneers began play in the Evangeline League. The Houma Buccaneers moved to Natchez, Mississippi on June 27, 1940 and finished the season as the Natchez Pilgrims, finishing 7th in 1940.
The Houma Indians joined the reformed Evangeline League in 1946 and won the league championship. The Indians joined the Abbeville Athletics, Alexandria Aces, Baton Rouge Red Sticks, Hammond Berries, Natchez Giants, New Iberia Cardinals and Thibodaux Giants in the 1946 Evangeline League. The Indians finished the 1946 regular season 92–39. Houma then defeated the Alexandria Aces 4 games to 1 in the first playoff series. In the Evangeline League Finals, the Indians defeated the Abbeville Athletics 4 games to 1 to capture the 1946 Evangeline League Championship.
After finishing 63–76 in 1947, the Indians captured Evangeline League pennants in 1948 and 1949. In 1948, the Indians' playoff series against the Baton Rouge Red Sticks was tied 1 game to 1 and the Hammond Berries - Thibodaux Giants were tied 2 games to 2, when the entire 1948 playoffs were cancelled due to bad weather. In 1948, Houma's Roy “Tex” Sanner won the Evangeline League’s “triple crown” with 34 home runs, 126 RBI, and a batting average of.386. As a pitcher, Sanner was also the league’s outstanding pitcher that season, posting a 21-2 record, a 2.58 ERA with 251 strikeouts.
After capturing the Evangeline League pennant in 1949 with an 81–58 record, the Indians were defeated by the Alexandria Aces 4 games to 1 in the first round of the playoffs.
The Indians finished 53–84, 60–78 and 59–79 from 1950–1952, finishing 7th in the eight–team Evangeline League each season. Their home attendance had fallen from 100,934 in 1947 to 25,821 in 1953. After the 1952 season, the Houma Indians and Abbeville Athletics were folded, leaving the Evangeline league with a 6–team field for 1953. The Evangeline League folded following the 1957 season.

The ballpark

The Houma Buccaneers and Houma Indians played at American Legion Park. The ballpark had a capacity of 3,000, 3,800 and 4,500. American Legion Park had a wooden grandstand and was destroyed by fire in 1956. American Legion Park was located at Lafayette & Crescent Boulevard, Houma, Louisiana.

Notable alumni